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Title: Trip Report-Produced-Water Field Testing

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1041566· OSTI ID:1041566
 [1]
  1. Los Alamos National Laboratory

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) conducted field testing of a produced-water pretreatment apparatus with assistance from faculty at the Texas A&M University (TAMU) protein separation sciences laboratory located on the TAMU main campus. The following report details all of the logistics surrounding the testing. The purpose of the test was to use a new, commercially-available filter media housing containing modified zeolite (surfactant-modified zeolite or SMZ) porous medium for use in pretreatment of oil and gas produced water (PW) and frac-flowback waters. The SMZ was tested previously in October, 2010 in a lab-constructed configuration ('old multicolumn system'), and performed well for removal of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (BTEX) from PW. However, a less-expensive, modular configuration is needed for field use. A modular system will allow the field operator to add or subtract SMZ filters as needed to accommodate site specific conditions, and to swap out used filters easily in a multi-unit system. This test demonstrated the use of a commercial filter housing with a simple flow modification and packed with SMZ for removing BTEX from a PW source in College Station, Texas. The system will be tested in June 2012 at a field site in Pennsylvania for treating frac-flowback waters. The goals of this test are: (1) to determine sorption efficiency of BTEX in the new configuration; and (2) to observe the range of flow rates, backpressures, and total volume treated at a given flow rate.

Research Organization:
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
DOE/LANL
DOE Contract Number:
AC52-06NA25396
OSTI ID:
1041566
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-12-21661; TRN: US201212%%934
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English